c7©]ciei  F, 


Japan'3  Part 


BY 


THEODORE  ROOSEVEJLT 


Copyrighted  by 

J.  B.  MILLET 


John  F.  Gouchor 
N umber. 


Colonel  Roosevelt’s  Interest  in  Holding 
Japan’s  Friendship 


When,  in  the  latter  part  of  July,  1918,  Col.  Roosevelt’s  attention  vras 
drawn  to  the  persistent  attacks  on  the  Japanese,  in  the  press  and  in  maga- 
zine articles,  signed,  in  some  cases,  hy  men  known  to  he  in  the  pay  of 
China  and  persona  non  grata  in  Japan  or  by  authors  who  wished  to  pose  as 
prophets  in  predicting  war  with  Japan,  he  instantly  saw  the  importance  of 
putting  a stop  to  it.  For  that  reason  he  wrote  the  accompanying  article. 

From  the  moment  when  the  matter  was  mentioned  to  him,  be  seized 
upon  it  with  his  usual  energy  and  urged  haste  in  securing  the  quotations 
and  other  material  which  he  needed.  Several  times,  in  the  interviews 
at  Oyster  Bay  which  followed,  he  rose  from  his  desk  as  if  impatient  to 
take  some  immediate  action  and  walked  the  floor,  saying,  “This  is  of  inter- 
national importance,”  or  “We  must  attack  this  wherever  we  see  it,”  or 
“Doesn’t  any  sane  man  know  that  Japan’s  friendship  is  the  best  asset  we 
can  have  in  the  Orient?” 

The  “message,”  as  he  called  it,  was  written  in  those  sad,  trying  days 
when  he  was  receiving  cable  confirmation  of  Quentin’s  death,  and  I saw 
by  his  manner,  as  well  as  by  his  kindly  words  to  me,  when  I suggested 
that  our  interviews  be  postponed,  that  it  was  a relief  for  him  to  have  a 
subject  before  him  to  which  he  could  give  his  whole  heart.  The  manu- 
script came  in  ten  days,  on  the  date  set  by  himself,  together  with  a letter 
to  me  instructing  me  to  show  the  article  to  Viscount  Ishii,  and,  if  it  met 
with  his  approval,  I was  then  permitted  to  publish  it  wherever  and  when- 
ever I chose. 

Accordingly,  I went  to  Washington  and  submitted  the  original  manu- 
script to  Viscount  Ishii,  explaining  that  Colonel  Roosevelt  had  written  it 
in  order  to  help  coimteract  the  antagonism  toward  Japan;  also  that  he  had 
not  been  asked  to  write  it  by  any  Japanese  or  by  any  one  representing  or 
connected  with  the  Japanese  or  any  other  Government. 

A few  days  later  Viscoimt  Ishii  expressed  his  approval  and  his  thanks 
in  a brief  note  to  me  requesting  that  it  be  shown  to  Colonel  Roosevelt. 

J.  B.  MILLET. 

[Editoe’s  Note:  Mr.  J.  B.  MiUet,  traveler  and  writer,  had  long  been 
a friend  of  Colonel  Roosevelt.  Having  spent  much  of  his  time  in  Japan, 
Mr.  Millet  was  specially  interested  in  presenting  to  the  American  pnbRc 
the  truth  about  that  country’s  war  record  and  ideals.  So  he  went  to  the  ex- 
President  and  asked  him  to  write  the  article  printed  herewith.] 


3 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/japanspartbytdrOOroos 


T I APAN’S  career  during  the  peist  fifty  years  has  heen  with- 
out  parallel  in  the  world  history.  Japan  has  played  a part  of 
extraordinary  usefulness  to  the  allied  cause  in  this  war  for 
civilization,  Japan’s  friendship  should  he  peculiarly  dear  to  the 
United  States,  and  every  far-sighted  public  man  in  the  United 
States  should  do  his  utmost  to  keep  a cordial  working  agreement 
of  sympathy  between  the  two  nations.  These  three  facts  should 
be  continually  in  the  minds  of  every  good  American;  and  espe- 
cially at  this  precise  moment. 

Japan’s  sudden  rise  into  a foremost  position  among  the  oc- 
cidental civihzed  powers  has  been  an  extraordinary  phenom- 
enon. There  has  been  nothing  in  the  past  in  any  way  ap- 
proaching it.  No  other  nation  in  history  has  ever  so  quickly 
entered  the  circle  of  civilized  powers.  It  took  the  yellow-haired 
barbarians  of  the  North  who  overthrew  Rome  six  or  eight  cen- 
turies before  the  civilization  they  built  up  even  began  to  ap- 
proach the  civilization  they  had  torn  down;  whereas  Japan 
tore  down  nothing  and  yet  reached  the  level  of  her  western 
neighbors  in  half  a century.  Moreover,  she  entered  the  circle 
of  the  higher  civilization  bearing  gifts  in  both  hands.  Her 
appreciation  of  art  and  nature,  her  refinement  of  life,  and  many 
of  her  social  conventions,  together  with  her  extraordinary  and 
ennobling  patriotism,  convey  lessons  to  us  of  America  and 
Europe  which  we  shall  do  well  to  learn.  Every  thoughtful 
American  who  dwells  on  the  relations  between  Japan  and  the 
United  States  must  realize  that  each  has  something  to  learn 
from  the  other. 

In  this  war  Japan  has  played  a great  and  useful  part.  That 
she  had  her  special  and  peculiar  grievances  against  Germany 
goes  without  saying.  So  had  we.  She  took  these  grievances 
into  accoimt  precisely  as  we  took  our  grievances  into  accoimt. 
But  she  ranged  herself  on  the  side  of  humanity  and  freedom 
and  justice  exactly  as  we  did.  Her  duty  has  been,  first  of  all, 
to  drive  Germany  from  the  Pacific  and  to  police  and  protect 
the  Orient.  If  she  had  not  done  this  it  is  probable  that  at  the 
present  moment  a British  and  American  force  would  be  be- 
sieging Kiao-Chau  and  that  our  commerce  woiild  be  suffering 
from  German  raids  in  the  Pacific,  Great  Britain  and  the  United 
States  are  able  to  keep  their  fleets  out  of  the  Pacific  at  this 
moment  because  the  Japanese  fleet  is  there.  But  she  has  done 
much  more  than  this.  Gradually,  as  the  war  has  grown,  she  has 
extended  her  assistance  all  over  the  globe.  Her  volunteers 


5 


have  appeared  in  that  most  hazardous  of  all  mihtary  branches, 
the  air  service,  at  the  extreme  fighting  front.  She  has  sent  her 
destroyers  to  protect  English  and  American  troop  ships  and 
cargo  ships  in  the  Atlantic  Ocean,  the  North  Sea  and  the  Medi- 
terranean. 

Japan’s  part  has  been  great;  far  greater  than  anything  that  she 
was  called  upon  to  do  by  her  alliance  with  Great  Britain.  She 
first  captured  Kiao-Chau,  and  sank  all  the  Austrian  and  German 
ships  there.  She  then  drove  the  German  ships  out  of  the 
Pacific.  Soon  thereafter  she  lent  three  of  her  cruisers  to  Russia 
to  strengthen  her  fleet  in  the  Baltic.  At  present  her  destroyers 
are  working  together  with  the  British  and  American  destroyers 
in  the  Mediterranean  Sea  and  off  the  coasts  of  England,  Spain 
and  France.  Her  submarines  have  been  working  in  company 
with  the  Italians.  The  transports  from  Australia  and  New  Zea- 
land have  been  convoyed  safely  by  Japanese  warships.  Our 
own  war  vessels  are  free  for  convoying  our  troops  across  the 
Atlantic  largely  because  of  what  Japan  has  done  in  the  Pacific. 
She  supplied  enormous  quantities  of  arms  and  munitions  to 
Russia.  She  lent  Russia  heavy  guns,  and  loaned  her  millions 
of  dollars.  She  has  given  to  the  Allies  quantities  of  copper. 
She  has  sent  medical  units  to  England,  France,  Russia,  Serbia 
and  Rumania.  She  has  offset  the  German  intrigue  in  India.  One 
in  twenty-eight  of  the  people  of  Japan  belong  to  the  Japanese 
Red  Cross;  one  in  four  of  the  Japanese  in  this  cotmtry  are  in 
the  American  Red  Cross.  Two  thousand  Japanese  are  fighting 
in  the  Canadian  army.  Japan  has  done  everything  she  has  been 
asked  to  do  or  permitted  to  do  in  this  war,  and  this  statement 
will  be  questioned  by  no  human  being  who  is  both  honest  and 
acquainted  with  the  actual  facts. 

Yet,  at  this  very  time,  when  Japan’s  sons  are  fighting  beside 
ours  in  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay 
and  the  North  Sea  and  in  the  air  over  the  western  front,  there 
are  blatant  Americans  who  have  served  Germany  against  Amer- 
ica, who  have  played  the  German  game  to  the  limit,  by  striving 
to  make  trouble  between  Japan  and  the  United  States;  by  seek- 
ing every  way  to  rouse  suspicion  and  distrust  of  Japan  in  the 
United  States;  and  by  doing  all  that  malevolent  and  imscru- 
pulous  baseness  can  do  to  taunt  Japan  into  hostihty  to  our 
rountry.  There  are  in  this  country  certain  demagogic  poh- 
dcians,  certain  agitators  seeking  notoriety,  and  certain  con- 


c 


ecienceless  and  sensation-mongering  newspaper  owners  and 
writers  who  are  willing  to  make  money  or  obtain  preferment 
for  themselves  by  any  appeal  to  distrust  and  suspicion,  no  mat- 
ter what  infinite  harm  it  does  to  this  country.  These  sordid 
creatures  have  worked  hand  in  glove  with  the  scarcely  more  sor- 
did creatures  who  are  paid  by  Germany  in  downright  cash  to  ad- 
vance Germany’s  aims,  whether  by  striving  to  provoke  an  ill-will 
that  might  eventually  produce  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Japan  or  in  any  other  fashion.  They  have  been  guilty  of 
conduct  80  shameful  that  it  cannot  be  too  strongly  condemned. 

Japan  has  a real  admiration  for  America,  dating  back  for 
sixty  years  to  the  time  of  Perry.  The  two  nations  have  been 
in  relations  of  close  friendship.  The  Japanese  have  patiently 
home  misrepresentation,  insults,  and  false  accusations  from  va- 
rious authors,  writers,  and  pubhc  speakers  of  this  coimtry. 
They  are  a proud  nation.  They  have  suffered  under  this  vih- 
fication.  They  have  believed  that  om  people  would  themselves 
reahze  the  injustice  of  these  attacks. 

Their  behef  is  justified.  Our  people  are  beginning  to  under- 
stand that  of  recent  years  the  most  flagrant  of  these  attacks  have 
been  made  by  German  agents  who  worked  diligently  and 
secretly  with  ample  government  money  to  create  distrust  be- 
tween the  two  coimtries.  The  time  has  come  for  us  Americans 
to  show  om*  trust  and  confidence  in  Japan  as  a great,  loyal, 
modem  people,  whose  seat  at  the  table  of  the  family  of  na- 
tions is  next  to  ours,  and  who  sit  there  on  a full  equality  with 
all  other  civihzed  peoples.  The  rights  and  duties  of  the  United 
States  and  Japan  toward  each  other  must  be  treated  on  a basis 
of  exact  reciprocal  equality.  Each  must  have  full  control  of 
all  things  vitally  affecting  its  own  well  being;  each  must  treat 
the  other  with  frank  and  loyal  courtesy  and  consideration. 

The  origin  and  persistence  of  German  propaganda  for  the 
purpose  of  embroiling  Japan  and  the  United  States  is  now  fairly 
well  recognized.  Yet  until  Viscoimt  Ishii  openly  and  pubhcly 
accused  Germany  of  being  die  agent  of  this  nefarious  work,  the 
people  of  our  country  knew  practically  nothing  about  it.  At 
a reception  given  by  the  National  Press  Club  in  Washington  to 
Viscount  Ishii  as  the  head  of  the  commission  from  Japan,  Sep- 
tember, 1917,  vhe  made  an  address  which  was  for  the  most 
part  devoted  to  exposing  these  insidious  efforts  of  Germany. 
He  said  in  part: 


7 


“For  more  than  ten  years  a propaganda  has  been  carried  on  in 
this  country,  in  Japan,  and,  in  fact,  throughout  the  world,  for 
the  one  and  sole  purpose  of  keeping  nations  of  the  Far  East  and 
Far  West  as  far  apart  as  possible;  to  break  up  existing  treaties 
and  understandings;  to  create  distrust,  suspicion,  and  unkindly 
feeling  between  neighbors  in  the  Far  East  and  in  the  West,  and 
all  in  order  that  Germany  might  secure  advantages  in  the  con- 
fusion. I do  not  think  that  you,  gentlemen,  in  your  busy  lives 
here  during  the  last  ten  years  have  given  more  than  passing 
attention  to  developments  in  the  Far  East.  The  well  equipped 
agent  of  your  enemy  and  mine  has  taken  advantage  of  your 
preoccupation  or  of  your  kindly  credulity.  For  many  years  his 
work  was  easy.  The  world  was  flooded  with  talks  of  Japan’s 
mihtary  aspirations  and  Japan’s  duplicity.  Have  these  been 
home  out  by  history?  Even  now  the  German  publicity  agent 
whispers  first  in  your  ear  and  then  in  mine.  His  story  is  specious, 
and  is  told  in  dim  light  which  falls  upon  sympathetic  pictures 
cleverly  painted  by  himself  and  presented  to  you  and  to  me  in 
the  past.  To  the  accompaniment  of  appeals  to  the  human 
heart  he  tells  to  me  other  stories  of  your  duplicity  and  to  you  of 
mine. 

“For  twelve  years,  gentlemen,  up  to  the  present  time,  those 
agents  have  worked  among  us  and  elsewhere  persistently  and 
cleverly.  They  have  been  supplied  with  unlimited  resources. 
No  wonder  we  have  been  deceived.  A short  tune  ago  a bad 
blunder  gave  us  a clue.  The  Zimmermann  note  to  Mexico  in- 
volving Japan  was  a blunder.  It  made  such  a noise  that  we 
were  disturbed  in  our  slumbers  and  so  were  you.  This  gave  a 
check  for  a time,  but  since  the  agents  have  been  hard  at  work. 
They  were  at  work  yesterday,  and  they  are  at  work  today. 
Every  prejudice,  every  sympathy,  every  available  argument 
has  been  appealed  to  and  used  to  show  to  your  people  and  to 
ours  what  a low,  cunning  enemy  we  have  each  in  the  other,  and 
how  much  dependent  we  are  upon  the  future  friendship,  sup- 
port, and  good  will  of  Germany.” 

The  Zimmermann  note  was  an  ofl&cial  invitation  from  Ger- 
many to  Japan  and  Mexico  to  join  in  dismembering  the  United 
States;  for  Germany  has,  with  cynically  unpartial  bad  faith, 
striven  to  draw  her  own  profit  from  the  ill-will  she  has  en- 
deavored to  excite  in  each  of  the  two  nations,  Japan  and  Amer- 
ica. Every  American  public  man,  newspaper  editor,  speaker  or 


8 


writer  who,  since  the  publication  of  the  Zimmermann  note,  has 
striven  to  excite  America  against  Japan  has  heen  dehherately 
playing  Germany’s  game  against  this  country.  Such  action 
amounts  to  moral  treason  to  the  United  States. 

If  any  person  thinks  this  too  strong  a statement,  I call  his 
attention  to  the  recent  deliberate  utterances  of  Secretary  of 
State  Lansing,  ex-Secretary  of  State  Root  and  ex-Ambassador 
Gerard. 

Mr.  Lansing  says:  “There  had  unquestionably  been  growing 
up  between  the  peoples  of  the  two  countries  (Japan  and  the 
United  States)  a feeling  of  suspicion  as  to  the  motives  inducing 
the  activities  of  the  other  in  the  Far  East,  a feehng  which,  if  un- 
checked, promised  to  develop  a serious  situation.  Rumors  and 
reports  of  improper  intentions  were  increasing  and  were  more 
and  more  believed.  Legitimate  commercial  and  industrial  en- 
terprises without  ulterior  motives  were  presumed  to  have  poli- 
tical significance,  with  the  result  that  opposition  to  those  en- 
terprises was  aroused  in  the  other  country".  The  attitude  of  con- 
straint and  doubt  thus  created  was  fostered  and  encouraged  by 
the  campaign  of  falsehood  which  for  a long  time  had  been 
adroitly  and  secretly  carried  on  by  Germans  whose  government, 
as  part  of  its  foreign  policy,  desired  especially  to  so  ahenate  this 
country  and  Japan  that  it  would  be  at  the  chosen  time  no  dif- 
ficult task  to  cause  a rupture  of  their  good  relations.  Un- 
fortunately there  were  people  in  both  countries,  many  of  whom 
were  entirely  honest  in  their  beliefs,  who  accepted  every  false 
rumor  as  true,  and  aided  the  German  propaganda  by  declaring 
that  their  government  should  prepare  for  the  conflict  which  they 
asserted  was  inevitable,  that  the  interests  of  the  two  nations  in 
the  Far  East  were  hostile,  and  that  every  activity  of  the  other 
country  in  the  Pacific  had  a sinister  purpose.” 

Mr.  Root  says:  “There  never  has  been  in  this  country,  so  far 
as  my  observation  and  reading  go,  any  more  dangerous  and  per- 
sistent misrepresentation  regarding  the  relations,  the  purposes, 
the  character  of  another  country  with  which  we  have  relations 
than  in  the  case  of  the  relations  between  the  United  States  and 
Japan.  I haven’t  the  slightest  doubt  that  the  misrepresenta- 
tions and  the  attempts  to  create  that  feeling  among  the  people 
who  have  it  all  in  their  hands  now,  the  attempts  to  create  bad 
feeling  between  the  United  States  and  Japan,  have  been  very 
largely  the  result  of  a fixed  and  settled  purpose,  and  that  pur- 


9 


pose,  it  seems  to  me,  growing  day  by  day  more  clear,  was  the 
purpose  that  formed  a part  of  the  policy  of  the  great  ruling 
caste  of  Germany  which  is  attempting  to  subjugate  the  world 
today. 

“For  many  years  I was  very  familiar  with  omr  Department  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  for  some  years  I was  especially  concerned 
in  its  operation.  During  that  time  there  were  many  difficult, 
perplexing,  and  doubtful  questions  to  be  discussed  and  settled 
between  the  United  States  and  Japan.  During  that  time  the 
thoughtless  or  malicious  section  of  the  press  was  doing  its 
worst.  Diu-ing  that  time  the  demagogue  seeking  cheap  reputa- 
tion by  stirring  up  the  passions  of  the  people  to  whom  it  ap- 
pealed was  doing  his  worst.  There  were  many  incidents  out 
of  which  quarrels  and  conflicts  might  have  arisen,  and  I hope 
you  will  all  remember  what  I say.  I say  that,  during  all  that 
period,  there  never  was  a moment  when  the  government  of 
Japan  was  not  frank,  sincere,  friendly,  and  most  solicitous  not 
to  enlarge,  but  to  minimize  and  do  away  with  all  causes  of 
controversy.  No  one  who  has  any  familiarity  at  all  with  hfe 
can  be  mistaken  in  a negotiation  as  to  whether  the  one  with 
whom  he  is  negotiating  is  trying  to  be  frank  or  trying  to  bring 
on  a quarrel.  That  is  a fundamental  thing  that  you  cannot  be 
mistaken  about.  And  there  was  never  a more  consistent  and 
noble  advocacy  of  peace,  of  international  friendship  and  of 
real,  good  understanding  in  the  diplomacy  of  this  world  than 
was  exhibited  by  the  representatives  of  Japan,  both  here 
and  in  Japan,  during  all  these  years  in  their  relations  to  the 
United  States.  I wish  for  no  better,  no  more  frank  and  friendly 
intercourse  by  which  Japan  in  those  years  illustrated  the  best 
qualities  of  the  new  diplomacy  as  between  rulers.” 

Mr.  Gerard  says:  “All  during  the  Winter  of  1914  in  Berlin 
Germans  from  the  highest  down  tried  to  impress  me  with  the 
great  danger  which  they  said  threatened  America  from  Japan. 
The  military  and  naval  attaches  of  the  United  States  Embassy 
and  I were  told  that  the  German  information  system  sent  news 
that  Mexico  was  full  of  Japanese  colonies  and  America  of 
Japanese  spies.  Possibly  much  of  the  prejudice  in  America 
against  the  Japanese  was  cooked  up  by  German  propagandists, 
which  we  later  learned  to  know  so  well.” 

Japan’s  friendliness  and  good  faith  were  strikingly  shown  in 
the  early  days  of  the  war,  when  the  question  arose  whether,  in 


10 


case  of  war  between  the  United  States  and  Japan,  Great  Britain 
would  be  obliged  to  assist  Japan.  This  was  excitedly  discussed 
here  and  in  England.  The  proposed  treaty  of  arbitration  be- 
tween Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  came  up  about  this 
time  and  it  was  foimd  that  such  a treaty  was  precluded  by  the 
terms  of  the  alliance  between  Great  Britain  and  Japan.  It  was 
at  Japan’s  request  that  the  terms  of  her  treaty  with  Great  Britain 
be  revised  so  as  to  remove  the  obstacle  to  the  arbitration 
treaty  to  which  Great  Britain  consented. 

This  was  Japan’s  contribution  to  universal  peace.  Regarding 
this,  Viscount  Ishii  said  in  his  address  to  the  National  Press 
Club  in  Washington,  “Now,  if  Japan  had  the  remotest  inten- 
tion of  appealing  to  arms  against  America,  how  could  she  thus 
voluntarily  have  renounced  the  all-important  co-operation  of 
Great  Britain?  It  would  have  been  wildly  quixotic.  Treaties 
are  not  ‘scraps  of  paper’  to  Great  Britain.  Japan  knew  she 
could  rely  on  Great  Britain  religiously  to  carry  out  her  promise. 
It  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  in  the  Foreign  Office  at  Tokio  at 
the  time  of  the  revision  of  the  Treaty  of  Alliance  with  Great 
Britain,  and,  modest  as  was  the  part  I took  therein,  I can  give 
you  the  personal  and  emphatic  assurance  that  there  was  at  that 
time  no  one  in  the  government  or  among  the  public  of  Japan 
opposed  to  the  terms  of  that  revision.  There  is,  one  may  surely 
be  safe  in  saying,  only  one  way  to  interpret  this  attitude  of 
Japan.  It  is  the  most  signal  proof — if,  indeed,  any  proof  is 
needed — that  to  the  Japanese  government  and  nation  anything 
like  armed  conflict  with  America  is  simply  unthinkable.” 

Japan,  alone  among  the  allies,  has  borrowed  no  money  from 
the  United  States;  and  she  has  loaned  hundreds  of  millions  to 
the  other  allied  nations.  The  Japanese  have  made  a record  in 
war  charities  during  the  last  four  years  which  is  of  really  extraor- 
dinary fineness  and  disinterestedness.  The  women  of  Japan 
used  the  same  methods  for  raising  money  to  be  sent  to  Belgimu 
and  Serbia  and  elsewhere  that  our  own  women  did.  They  had 
their  “Japan  Belgian  Relief  Society,”  their  “Japan  Serbian  Re- 
lief Society,”  etc.  They  sent  $150,000  to  the  Italian  refugees 
who  lost  their  homes  when  the  Teutonic  armies  invaded  Italy. 
Stimulated  by  these  smaller  but  very  active  organizations,  a 
movement  was  started  which  spread  from  end  to  end  of  the  Em- 
pire and  then  across  to  Korea.  Its  title  is  “The  Japanese  Asso- 
ciation for  Aiding  the  Sick  and  Wounded  Soldiers  and  Others 


11 


Suffering  From  the  War  With  Allied  Coimtries.”  Its  president 
is  Prince  lyesato  Tokugawa,  President  of  the  House  of  Peers. 
The  Vice-  President  is  Baron  Shibusawa,  the  financier  so  well 
known  in  this  coimtry.  The  fimd  collected  amounted  to  $1,000,- 
000  and  was  distributed  as  follows: 


To  Great  Britain $184,000 

France  184,000 

Russia 184,000 

Italy  184,000 

Belgium 184,000 

Serbia 60,000 

Rumania  60,000 


Ordinarily  funds  of  this  size  and  character  are  distributed  by 
a committee,  but  this  association  adopted  a less  expensive  and 
much  more  modern  method.  The  money  was  sent  to  the 
Japanese  official  representatives  in  the  various  countries.  A 
pamphlet  was  published  in  Japanese  and  in  English  under  the 
title  “Japan  to  Her  Allies,”  which  stated  the  purposes  of  the 
association  and  also  included  articles  written  by  leading  men 
of  the  country,  in  which  they  set  forth  their  sympathy  with 
all  the  sufferers,  their  opinion  of  Germany’s  responsibility  for 
the  war,  and  her  abominable  methods  of  conducting  it,  and 
their  belief  in  the  ultimate  victory  of  the  Allies.  It  is  a re- 
markable publication;  nothing  quite  equal  to  it  has  originated 
in  any  of  the  Occidental  countries. 

The  quality  of  the  pamphlet  is  shown  by  the  foUowing 
quotation  from  the  dignified  and  impressive  statement  of 
Cormt  Terauchi,  the  Prime  Minister  and  official  spokesman  of 
the  Japanese  people:  “Far  removed  as  the  Empire  of  Japan 
is  from  the  center  of  action,  and  little  as  the  people  of  Japan 
have  suffered  in  comparison  with  their  European  Allies,  Japan 
and  her  people,  none  the  less,  know  the  meaning  of  war,  and 
are  able,  therefore,  to  appreciate  the  sufferings  and  sacrifices 
of  their  Allies  as  their  own.  The  people  of  Japan  feel  them- 
selves one  with  the  people  of  the  invaded  coimtries,  just  as  the 
people  of  the  Allies  do.  They  are  one  in  sympathy  and  in  the 
fight  for  international  justice,  and  stand  ready  to  share  the 
hardships  of  the  struggle  to  the  fullest  extent.  * * * As 

the  prime  minister  of  Japan,  it  is  my  privilege  and  pleasure 
hereby  to  express  the  sympathy  and  good-will  of  the  people 


12 


of  Japan  for  the  allied  armies  and  peoples  in  this  day  of  trial. 
* * * Though  the  amount  contributed  may  seem  no  more 

than  a mere  trifle  in  comparison  with  the  need  of  the  sufi’ering 
nations,  the  heart-felt  sympathy  and  admiration  of  a whole 
nation  go  with  it.  Those  who  receive  the  gift  from  Japan  may 
well  look  upon  it  as  the  widow’s  mite  that  means  more  than 
all  the  offerings  of  the  rich.” 

There  is  not  time  in  this  message  to  discuss  fully  our  proper 
relations  to  Japan;  I have  set  them  forth  as  I see  them- — and 
as  I see  our  proper  position  as  regards  all  our  international  re- 
lations— in  my  book  “Fear  God  and  Take  Your  Own  Part.” 
But  there  is  always  time  to  point  out  the  elemental  fact  that 
this  country  should  feel  for  Japan  a peculiar  admiration  and 
respect,  and  that  one  of  the  cardinal  principles  of  our  foreign 
policy  should  be  to  secure  and  retain  her  friendship,  respect, 
and  good-wdll.  There  is  not  the  slightest  real  or  necessary  con- 
fldct  of  interest  between  the  United  States  and  Japan  in  the 
Pacific;  her  interest  is  in  Asia,  ours  in  America;  neither  has  any 
desire  nor  excuse  for  acquiring  territory  in  the  other  continent. 
Japan  is  playing  a great  part  in  the  civilized  world;  a good  un- 
derstanding between  her  and  the  United  States  is  essential  to 
international  progress,  and  it  is  a grave  olfense  against  the 
United  States  for  any  man  by  word  or  deed  to  jeopardize  this 
good  understanding. 

The  case  has  been  put  in  a nutshell  in  Viscount  Ishii’s  elo- 
quent and  appealing  address  at  Fair  Haven,  Mass.,  on  July  4, 
which  he  closed  with  these  words: 

“We  trust  you,  we  love  you,  and,  if  you  will  let  us,  we  will 
walk  at  your  side  in  loyal  good-fellowship  down  all  the  coming 
years.” 

All  good  Americans  should  act  towards  Japan  in  precisely  the 
spirit  shown  toward  America  by  this  able  and  eloquent  Japanese 
statesman. 


13 


The  Origin  of  the  Japan  Society 


Thirteen  years  ago  some  700  Americans,  including  many  of 
New  York’s  most  prominent  citizens,  honored  the  arrival  in  this 
coimtry  of  two  Japanese  warships  at  a banquet  at  which  Ambas- 
sador Viscount  S.  Aoki,  General  Baron  T.  Kuroki  and  Admiral 
G.  Ijuin  were  the  guests  of  the  evening. 

As  a result  of  this  spontaneous  expression  of  America’s  feeling 
of  cordiality  and  good  will  toward  its  Western  neighbor,  the 
Japan  Society  had  its  origin.  The  old  saying  “Time  will  Tell” 
again  proved  true,  for  arovmd  the  small  group  of  men  who  or- 
ganized the  Society  in  May,  1907,  there  has  grown  a member- 
ship of  some  1,500,  about  1,200  of  whom  are  Americans. 

Through  the  broad  distribution  of  its  Trade  and  News  Bul- 
letins, informative  books,  pamphlets  and  questionnaires  through- 
out the  United  States;  through  the  circulating  library,  the  In- 
formation Bureau,  the  Travel  Department  and  by  means  of 
illustrated  lectures,  the  Society  is  accomplishing  a work  of  in- 
ternational importance. 

And  so,  out  of  the  visit  of  the  two  Japanese  warships  there 
was  conceived  an  American  organization  whose  peaceful  mission 
it  should  be  to  bring  more  closely  together  the  peoples  of  two 
great  nations,  one  in  the  East,  the  other  in  the  West. 


14 


Japan  Society 

Officers 

FRANK  A.  VANDERLIP 
President 

LINDSAY  RUSSELL 
Chairman,  Board  of  Directors 

AUGUST  BELMONT 
Vice-President 

DOUGLAS  L.  DUNBAR 
Assistant  to  President 

EUGENE  C.  WORDEN 
Secretary 

BANKERS  TRUST  COMPANY 
Treasurer 

OSCAR  E.  RILEY 
Manager 


Directors 


R.  Arai 

George  J.  Baldwin 
U.  N.  Bethell 
A.  W.  Burchard 
Theodore  E.  Burton 
Henry  Clews 
William  North  Duane 
Elhert  H.  Gary 
Hamilton  Holt 
A.  Barton  Hepburn 
Herbert  S.  Houston 
R.  Ichinomiya 
Darwin  P.  Kingsley 


M.  Kobayashi 
Thomas  W.  Lamont 
Howard  Mansfield 
Emerson  McMillin 
James  R.  Morse 
Jacob  H.  Schiff 
Don  C.  Seitz 
Melville  E.  Stone 
Gerard  Swope 
Alexander  Tison 
Guy  E.  Tripp 
Dr.  Jokichi  Takamine 
William  H.  Williams 


OFFICE 

165  BROADWAY 
NEW  YORK 


15 


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